Attendance
Attendance and Absence
Regular attendance is essential to a child's education and wellbeing. At Kettering Park Junior Academy, we expect all pupils to achieve 96% attendance or above wherever possible.
Please note: Policies relating to attendance can be found on our School Policies page and our Statutory Trust Policies page.
Reporting an Absence
If your child is unable to attend school due to illness, please contact the school office as soon as possible:
Telephone: 01536 411208
Please leave a voicemail before 8:30am on the day of absence. A 24-hour answering service is available, allowing you to report absences at any time.
We ask parents and carers to keep the school informed of any absence and to provide updates where appropriate.
Leave of Absence
If your child needs to be absent from school for any reason, a Leave of Absence Request Form must be completed.
Forms can be:
- Obtained from the school office, or
- Downloaded from the Forms section of the website.
All requests for leave of absence are considered on an individual basis and will only be authorised in exceptional circumstances.
Term-Time Holidays
The law does not give parents an automatic right to take their child out of school during term time.
The Headteacher would not normally consider a family holiday during term time to be an exceptional circumstance and therefore such absences are unlikely to be authorised.
Examples of absences that may be recorded as unauthorised include:
- Family holidays during term time
- Leaving school early for a sibling's appointment
- Absence due to head lice
- Routine dental appointments
- Refusal to attend school
- Persistent late arrival after 9:30am
Penalty Notices
Non-School Attendance
A Penalty Notice may be issued where a pupil accumulates:
5 days (10 sessions) or more of unauthorised absence within a 6-week period.
Unauthorised Term-Time Leave
A Penalty Notice may also be issued where there are:
5 consecutive days (10 sessions) or more of unauthorised absence due to term-time leave.
Penalty Notice Fines
Penalty Notices are issued by the Local Authority and the initial fine is:
£80 per parent, per child
For example, a family with two parents and two children could receive fines totalling £320.
We encourage all families to work closely with the school and keep us informed of any circumstances affecting attendance to help ensure every child achieves the best possible outcomes.
